10 Reasons why you should hire a Creative Retainer

Meeting the communication and visual design requirements of your business can be challenging without the right people at your disposal. But do you always need to have someone on your regular payroll to complete those required tasks or projects? In this article, we would like to discuss the 10 reasons why you should consider a Creative Retainer service through Jpetrous Creative Services (JpCS). 

You may be asking yourself, “can I afford the going rate for a full-time designer? Do I even need a full-time designer? What other options do I have?”

If those questions have ever crossed your mind, the answers may not always be the same depending on the resources. According to Payscale.com, the going rate for a full-time graphic designer starts at about $35,000 annually and goes up to about $65,000 annually based on experience. With that salary to consider, the affordability may come into question. But, what if those costs were nearly cut in half? What if instead of hiring someone to work for you full-time, you could contract someone to work with you as needed? If saving money is important to you, then a Creative Retainer may be the route for you to take.

But, now some new questions may come to mind. “What is a Creative Retainer? Is the Creative Retainer a good idea for me and my business?” How does this help my business save money each month?”

Simply put, a Creative Retainer is a professional relationship between you and either a creative individual or a creative agency such as JpCS. How does this benefit you? Easy. Instead of hiring a someone full-time and trying to keep them busy, the Creative Retainer has dedicated time for you and your business, working only when you need them too. In the long run, instead of paying an average of roughly $2500** a month for a single person working or not working 160 hours a month, you could instead pay a flat monthly rate for a dedicated number of hours each month. Ultimately, saving you and your business valuable overhead costs that could be applied elsewhere. 

Regardless if you can or cannot afford a full-time designer, here are 10 reasons why you should hire a Creative Retainer for your communication and creative needs in no particular order. 

Experience

As mentioned above, to fill the void, you may hire someone off the street or fresh out of school with minimal experience. Not to say that he or she is not talented or qualified enough to suit your needs, but due to current limitations, you may require someone with more experience at a when-needed-basis to get things rolling. Experience can make all the difference, and JpCS has over 10 years of experience working professionally in the Automotive and Health and Wellness industries. And like anyone else, we continue to learn and evolve to stay current.

Save on Overhead

If you already have a team of designers working for you, chances are they may be locked up in several important projects that may prevent them from working on anything else. Or, you have projects that need to be completed and no one to work on them. Sure, you could utilize one of several online freelance resources but many of those are one-and-done jobs that probably won’t be very familiar with your brand or not share any interest outside of the one job assigned to them. Instead of pumping extra money into overtime costs, freelancers, or hiring an additional person, consider the Creative Retainer. Going straight to hiring the Creative Retainer also means no recruitment fees. Count that as an automatic win. 

Committed Services

This goes without question, but is still worthy of discussion. This one in particular though allows for a lucrative relationship between you and the Creative Retainer that you decide to bring aboard and outsource assignments too. You need to be able to trust your partner, and with the commitment required you can expect nothing less than the highest level of professionalism from JpCS. Your business and your privacy are top tier important to us, and earning your trust with dedicated work and respect of your brand is how we intend to show our level of commitment to you. 

Stable Budgeting

Imagine paying a fixed rate every month for the exact same number of hours in labor. With regular employees, you may have to distribute overtime for work completed that exceeded certain requirements or cover other unexpected costs. With a Creative Retainer, you can expect the same rate each month for the same number of hours worked. If the contract is requesting ten hours, then you only have to pay for ten hours of labor. If your contract for twenty hours, then you only pay for twenty hour. Some additional fees may come into play such as the cost of stock imagery or the occasional overage, but none of that comes without approval from your end, and depending on the contract, you may not have to pay anything until the following month. JpCS for example bills after 30 days, and you can expect to see your invoice within the first week of each month. 

A Professional Relationship

At minimum, a Creative Retainer will offer you the same level of professionalism as a regular full-time employee. Contractors however know that they are more expendable than the average employee and even when it is time to part ways they understand and accept it willingly without putting up a fight. We get it. We may not be the permanent solution, but we will never act out when we part ways. Would we love to work with you indefinitely? Of course, and we would be eternally grateful for your business. But, we also understand that like any contract it has to come to an end. From day one until you say otherwise, you can expect only the highest level of professionalism from us. Your privacy and your business are the utmost important to us.  

Consistency in Workflow

Probably the most ideal thing of hiring a Creative Retainer is that you already know that the job is going to get done. You are not going to hear anything like “I’m busy” or “I’ll get to it next week”. A Creative Retainer locks in a dedicated number of hours for you each week, no questions asked. All to complete the jobs that are being assigned to them. By paying a Creative Retainer, you are purchasing their time upfront, allowing you to plan ahead. You also do not need to track labor or pay multiple invoices depending on the billing cycles. This consistent workflow keeps surprises at a minimum, and also allows both parties to be more transparent, resulting in a higher level of quality work. 

Conscious Cultural Awareness

Just like any internal employee, the Creative Retainer will be eager to learn about your company culture. If your business has any specific guidelines to follow such as logo placement or corporate colors, expect them to ask almost right away so they can begin learning as much as they can about who you are and what you represent. The Creative Retainer may over time mold themselves according to your businesses needs, and offering you more than you had previously expected. You could consider the Creative Retainer the same as any of your internal employees but with a few perks and benefits. 

Low Risk

So far we have covered a lot, but if nothing has convinced you yet then this just might. As an employer, you have to offer specific benefits to your employees such as medical, unemployment insurance, retirement, free parking and so much more. With a Creative Retainer, you do not have to offer any of those things, to maybe the exception of free parking or some kind of parking reimbursement for onsite work. JpCS works remotely, and does not ask for any of those benefits. We only ask that you think of us first when speaking within your network about the services we have assisted you with.

Flexible Accountability

With a goal in mind, no job is to big or too small. All we need is a deadline to have the job completed by. One week, one month, or as far out as one year, you know that no matter the timeline, we can get the job done. Working with various contract lengths and hourly rates, you can expect creative flexibility and dedication to your business. 

Maintaining or Updating old or Current Work

Maybe you already have something established. A corporate look and feel with specific colors and templates. If so, great! A Creative Retain can use that information and maintain the same look and feel moving forward. But, what if you want updates made? What if you want a modern twist on a dated look? Again, great! We have you covered. JpCS has look over what you currently have and prepare something new upon request. 

There are plenty of reasons why you should hire a Creative Retainer, and hopefully with the 10 listed above it has given you something to think about before making any sudden decisions. Just know that if you decide to hire a Creative Retainer, take time to consider what your business needs are first and also plan what you would want them to do for you in advance, that way you don’t waste your investment or get surprised by any sudden fees for overage. The more you plan, the better the outcome. 

Pro tip #1 : Review examples of what you like on the internet and share them with your Creative Retainer. They are often more visual than anything else and will appreciate what you have collected. Thus allowing them to better understand what you are trying to achieve. 

Pro tip #2 : Review several online stock imagery sites to see what the going rate is per download. There are several online resources available but the pros often lean more towards Shutterstock.com and Stock.Adobe.com for the highest quality imagery. If you are looking to add stock imagery to your requested projects, be mindful of the additional cost. 

We know that not every business has or can afford a full-time designer to complete every request or requirement. Not all businesses are created equal. Let’s be honest, design is a skilled trade. You wouldn’t want to hire just anybody to complete a heart transplant, handling your financial expenses, or providing legal aide. The same is true for design of any caliber. 

If you have any questions about the Creative Retainer, please feel free to contact us today!